The Siege of Tobruk was a battle in Libya during World War II. It lasted for 241 days. The battle was between Axis and Allied Forces. The battle started on 11 April 1941, when Tobruk was besieged by an Italian and Nazi German force commanded by Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel. The siege continued for 240 days up to 27 November 1941. On that date, the Allied 8th Army took control of Tobruk.

The reason that the Allies wanted to have control of Tobruk was so that they could defend Egypt and the Suez Canal. The Allies also wanted to control Tobruk because it had a harbour that the Axis armies wanted to use. When the Axis armies could no longer use the port at Tobruk, they had to bring in supplies at the port of Tripoli. This required the Axis armies to bring the supplies by truck through 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) of desert. Even though the Allies won Tobruk, the Axis armies kept trying to fight to take it back. The Axis armies fired many artillery shells at Tobruk and dropped many bombs on the town.

The reason that both sides wanted to control Tobruk is that it had a deep protected harbour. This made it a good place for ships to seek shelter. As well, the Italians had built a lot of fortifications. In addition, there were a number of escarpments and cliffs near Tobruk, which helped to protect the town from attack.